Antarctica Ahoy!

Around Scott Base

Expedition Begins

Exploration Area

Exploration Routes

Plateau Loop map

Polar Plateau

Icy Panorama

East Quartzite Range

West Quartzite Range

Upper Glacier

Glacier Route

Middle Glacier

Lower Glacier

Final Stretch

Destination

Conclusion

Diary: Introduction

Diary: Preparation

Diary: Polar Plateau

Diary: Quartzite Xmas

Diary: Into the Glacier

Diary: Home Run

Appendix: Polar Life

Appendix: Logistics

Appendix: Mapping

Thanks

Antarctica with the exploration area marked.

Tararua Antarctic Expedition, 1962-63

Polar Plateau

Two men pull a sledge by waist harnesses. Evan and John haul their 300 kg sledge.

A mile an hour (1½ kph) is a brisk pace on the flat.
Uphill man-hauling is slower and exhausting.

Alan Beck of the 1957-58 Tucker Glacier Expedition
said of man-hauling:
"Shut yourself off from the world,
and heave each step in a trance.
Don't count minutes or watch the country,
as both pass so slowly."

Lunch break from man-hauling. 10 December.
We marched for 50 minutes per hour,
resting for an hour at lunch.

Long, strenuous days in the cold, dry air
made us thirsty. Vacuum flasks kept beverages
from freezing. Half-liter flasks proved rather
small, so we drank copiously at camp.

Food boxes and equipment lashed to the sledge. The Nansen sledge is a wooden frame on ski runners. The sledge carried a 300 kg load:
food, tent, bedding, clothing,
personal items, equipment for
camping, climbing and surveying,
and a radio transceiver.

Norwegian-designed Nansen sledges
have wooden members lashed together,
a resilient construction.

Food items from a 20-man-day ration box.

Each 20-man-day standard ration box held 16½ kg of food:
dehydrated meat, vegetables, soup, egg, milk and beverages,
as well as pemmican, bacon, oatmeal, Tararua lunch biscuits,
tinned butter from Argentina, Nestlé's chocolate and toilet paper.

Geologists scour the area for rocks of interest.

Geological team Evan Leitch and John Hayton at work,
near survey station H2. 13 December. Camp III.

Geological mapping and navigation
rely on a magnetic compass for direction.

Near the south magnetic pole the earth’s magnetic field is faint,
so the magnetic compass was of little use,
which hampered both scientific work and navigation.

Icy Panorama